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She hits the lights, as is tradition, and they sit at either end of the couch with me in the middle. Suddenly much more exhausted than I was when I was sitting here a little while ago, I slump back into the cushions and sigh. To my left, Landon does, too, before he takes a bite of his sandwich.
When Rae plays the movie, she laughs cutely while he and I share a look of relief. She didn’t pickThe Fox and the Hound.
She’s a cute one,I think as she snuggles up to my side.
Landon laughs at the opening line ofTangled, which is dramatically delivered by Flynn Rider.
And I glance over at his smile, then shut my eyes and think,He’s a cute one, too.
Gorgeous, of course.
And sweet.
The best hugger….
*
When I open my eyes, they’re heavy and I feel drowsy. I also feel warm and mildly uncomfortable.
I can hear deep, quiet breathing from one side of me and light, soft breathing from the other.
Blearily, I look around.
The TV screen is dark gray instead of colorful as I remember it being earlier.
Rae is curled up in the couch corner on my right, fast asleep.
And Landon is asleep on my left—mydirectleft, because he’s been leaning into his own corner andI’vebeen leaning onhim. That’s why I feel warm and mildly uncomfortable.
A faint voice in my fuzzy brain tells me to get up and make him go home because the movie is over now.
My body doesn’t listen. It just shifts slightly so my arm isn’t stuck under me…ah, there we go.
I fall back asleep.
*
The next time I wake up, it’s to the smell of cooking food and the sound of a deep voice humming from the direction of the kitchen.
I’m lying flat on the couch…where Landon was the last time I opened my eyes. Yawning, I sit up and look around. It must be morning. The living room light is on, and so is the kitchen light because that’s where Landon is. Rae is on the floor in front of the TV, watchingMy Little Pony.
When I’m awake enough to really think straight, I take a minute to decide how I feel about him clearly cooking us breakfast, and about me not getting off this couch last night to enforce a more appropriate sleeping arrangement.
…Okay.
I feel okay.
Leaps and bounds better than yesterday, for sure.
That ever-present qualm about my indulgence is in my mind, but I ignore it, because is it really that big of a deal if I slept on Landon’s arm? I was worn out and so was he, right? Didn’t he say he got half an hour of sleep after everything that happened?
No, I decide—no, it wasn’t a big deal. If I’d had the serious feeling that I was doing something I shouldn’t have been, I would’ve put a stop to it. I have no reason to feel guilty or upset or anything else other than rested and content.
So I get up, walk over to Rae to lovingly stroke her hair, and exchange smiles with her. Then I head into the kitchen, where Landon is scrambling eggs and singing along to the unfamiliar song I’ve just noticed is playing quietly on his phone.
I spend several seconds listening and surveying. The song sounds good and he’s got bacon and biscuits already prepared on the counter.
Yeah, I’m okay with this.
